The volutes are a family of molluscs with
attractive, large, glossy shells, and are one of the favourite groups
with collectors. The smallest species is about 9 mm in size, but some of
the baler shells reach over 500 mm. The family contains about 200
species and is distributed world wide. Of the 200 species about 70 are
endemic to Australia, with concentrations of endemic species in
Queensland and north-west Australia.

Volutes are carnivorous, preying on small
animals, including other molluscs and echinoderms. Some species live
intertidally, others subtidally down to at least 500 metres. Most live
in clean sand, either burrowing underneath or crawling on top. One
species, Cymbiola magnifica, is trawled at night, so it
is apparently buried by day and comes onto the surface at night.

Volutes reproduce by direct development. The male
fertilizes the female internally, and the female deposits fertilized
eggs into an egg mass adhering to the substrate; crawling juveniles
emerge directly from the egg, and there is no free-swimming larval
stage. This leads to small distributional ranges and isolated
populations which develop with their own characteristics of shell form
and colour pattern. Often these populations are geographically quite
close, but are separated by some barrier to migration such as a deep
water channel. This effect is very noticeable with the Cymbiola pulchra
species group where distinct forms have evolved on isolated reef systems of the Great Barrier
Reef. In the past, such forms have been named as distinct species, but
modern practice is to regard them as subspecies or forms of a variable
species.

About eighteen species of volutes are found in NSW,
all occurring subtidally. Species which occur commonly intertidally in
Queensland, such as Cymbiola pulchra, are uncommon or rare in
NSW, and only found subtidally. The same is true for the common southern
Australian species Amoria undulata, which occurs intertidally in
Victoria but not shallower than 10 metres in NSW. Recent trawling in
deeper and deeper water on the Australian continental slope yields
greater bathymetric ranges than were previously recorded. For
example, Ericusa papillosa is now known down to
732 metres.

Distributions mainly follow two patterns. One group
has a range restricted to Queensland and NSW. This includes most of the Amoria
species. Within this group, a few have a short range within NSW, such as. Lyria
laseroni which is known only from a 200 km range in northern NSW.
The other group
ranges from about the Queensland-NSW border southwards to South Australia or
south-western Australia; this group includes Amoria undulata, Ericusa
papillosa, E. sowerbyi and Livonia roadnightae
.

Volutes have large, conspicuously patterned shells
with plaits on the columella. Some species vary in shape and
colouration between shallow and deep water and within their geographical
range. Some species, particularly Cymbiola pulchra, vary widely in
colour, pattern, size and shape from isolated population to population
over relatively short distances.